The gifted hide their talents, but dare they step into the light?Micah's Chimaera powers are growing, until his dark visions overwhelm him. Drystan is forced to take him to Dr Pozzi, to save his life. But can they really trust the doctor, especially when a close friend is revealed to be his spy?Meanwhile, violent unrest is sweeping the country, as anti-royalist factions fight to be heard. Then three chimaera are attacked, after revealing their existence with the monarchy's blessing - and the struggle becomes personal. A small sect decimated the chimaera in ancient times and nearly destroyed the world. Now they've re-emerged to spread terror once more. Micah will discover a royal secret, which draws him into the heart of the conflict. And he and his friends must risk everything to finally bring peace to their land.

A blink is all you need. A second of distraction, and you trick them with that precious moment of time. Magic is both the easiest and the hardest thing you will ever do.— From the soon-to-be published memoirs of the Maske of Magic

Every chapter in the Micah Grey series has a short found document at the start, ranging from a variety of sources: history books, diaries, songs, poetry, and more. It’s basically a sneaky way to add in more worldbuilding and detail about Ellada & the Archipelago.Magic and misdirection is a large part of the Micah Grey series. In the first book, there is the circus performance, weaving a story or a pantomime underneath the big top. In the second book, it shifts to the magician’s stage, with sleight-of-hand and grand stage tricks. The third book takes that magic to a different location, which I won’t spoil. But misdirection and magic crops up in other ways too—in people’s interactions with each other, in the way the myths of the world are possibly returning. Don’t blink.

If you buy Pantomime or Masquerade & send your receipt to Laura, you can claim a free 10k short story, “The Mechanical Minotaur,” set in the same world. If you buy all three, you can claim 60k of free fiction as well. More details here.

Laura Lam was raised near San Francisco, California, by two former Haight-Ashbury hippies. Both of them encouraged her to finger-paint to her heart's desire, colour outside the lines, and consider the library a second home. This led to an overabundance of daydreams. She relocated to Scotland to be with her husband, whom she met on the internet when he insulted her taste in books. She almost blocked him but is glad she didn't. At times she misses the sunshine.